"This will not work," Vince spoke up.
Ruthven held his hand towards Fields, and the sorcerer stopped the proceeding pinching of my finger and ring. Our host turned to Vince with a raised eyebrow. "What won't work?"
"You may be able to remove her finger, but the ring won't be in your power. It must be passed on by choice or the magic dies," Vince warned him.
"And why should you warn me of this? You would be free if I cut her finger off. Unless-" Ruthven's eyes fell on me and his lips twisted into a terrible grin. "Unless you have a deeper bond than I imagined. Is that it? Do you care for this pathetic human, Vincent the Vampire?" Vince said nothing, but I noticed he was stiff. "I see. I will take that as a 'yes.' Unfortunately, that means we are at an impasse. I need that ring and its powers, and she is unable to remove it."
My eyes widened as a crazy, suicidal idea hit me. If I was right then we'd be saved, and if I was wrong then we'd be dead. Or if I was half right we'd be all-dead. Not great odds, but I really wanted to keep all my fingers.
"Maybe. . .maybe I can," I spoke up.
Ruthven returned his attention to me. "Can what?"
"Maybe I can pull the ring off. Maybe I was-um, lying. Bluffing, but you caught my bluff." I let out a not-very-convincing chuckle. "I didn't want to get rid of this-um, this hold I have over Vince, but I kind of want to keep my fingers, so why don't you tell your magic man to let me go so I can take it off?"
Ruthven raised an eyebrow. "You're a terrible liar. It seems I must take my chances with your finger." He snapped his fingers and Field raised the ax again.
"Wait! I'm not joking!" I looked Ruthven straight in the eyes. "I can take the ring off and hand it to you. I swear it."
Ruthven frowned, but I breathed out when he waved his hand at Field's. "Very well, but do it quickly."
I was released from Field's control and stood. I felt Vince watch me from behind his sunglasses, and I smiled at him. "You'd better kick some ass if these guys kill me for this," I told him.
Ruthven's eyes widened. "What are you-"
I yanked on the ring. It slipped off my finger and I tossed it to Vince. "Crush it!" I yelled at him.
Vince turned around and the ring landed in a manacled hand. His fingers wrapped around the ring and crushed the gold and diamond. Blood from the diamond poured from his fingers and onto the floor. "No!" Ruthven screamed. He snatched the floating ax from the air and swung it at me. "You bitch! You'll pay for that!"
I ducked and dove beneath his desk. My position gave me a full view of the room, and my eyes fell on Vince. He had his back turned to me, and he stood as still as a statue. Ruthven turned his attention to his lackey. "Destroy that vampire!" he ordered Field.
Field smiled and raised both his hands. They glowed with his dark magic and above himself he formed a giant energy ball. Still Vince did nothing. "Vince, run!" I yelled at my partner, but he didn't move.
Field threw the ball at Vince, and it collided with the vampire's back. I expected the blast to make Vince into a donut, but the energy slammed into him and-well, dissipated. The front flattened on impact, but it flowed around my partner like he was an untouchable barrier and faded into the air beyond Vince. The blast caught on the front of his glasses, however, and they clattered to the ground in front of his feet. The energy blast obscured Vince from view for a few seconds, and when I could see him again my mouth dropped open. His body was surrounded by a blue energy that pulsed with power. It flowed over him like a dark, rippling river and covered him completely.
Vince half-turned to us and his eyes blazed with a bright red color. He curled his lips back in a grin that showed off his long, sharp fangs. Ruthven gasped and stumbled back. All his bravado was gone and he whipped his head to Field. "Destroy him!" he ordered his minion.
In a moment Field prepared another energy blast, smaller than the first, and threw it at Vince. Vince quickly broke his manacles and raised his hand so the palm was turned towards the attack. The ball hit his palm, and his fingers wrapped around the ball. The energy was extinguished, and a small puff of dark smoke rose from between his fingers. Field's eyes grew as wide as saucers and the sorcerer stumbled back. Vince moved too fast for any of us to see. One moment he stood near the door, and the next he was across the room and his teeth were deep in Field's throat. The sorcerer let out a garbled scream that told me he wasn't enjoying Vince's hickey.
I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see Ruthven dive for the spot Vince had just occupied. He shoved his face into the carpet and licked at the drops of blood among the crumpled remains of my ring. Ruthven licked it all up and raised his head. His face scrunched up in pain and he clutched at his stomach. My eyes widened when I beheld a dark energy arise from his body and swirl around him.
"Vince!" I yelled at my partner.
Vince dropped the dead weight of Field's body and turned to Ruthven. Our adversary struggled to his feet and held his hands out in front of him as he turned to us. The dark energy pulsed around his form and a wide, wild grin slipped onto his face. His eyes were wide with insanity and their color was now pure black, no pupils. Ruthven tilted his head back and laughed.
"Finally! Finally I have it!" he cried out. Vince clenched his teeth and disappeared in a flash of speed. Ruthven whipped out his arm with his hand outstretched and Vince came back into my view with his neck caught in the vice of Ruthven's fingers. "You think you can stop me, vampire? This is the very power that sealed you to that ring!"
Ruthven lifted Vince off the ground and threw him across the room. Vince's back slammed against the bookcases and he fell face-forward onto the floor. Dozens of books toppled onto him and he shook his head as Ruthven strode toward him. Ruthven raised his hands and each formed a small ball of energy. "This is what it means to have power, true power, immortal power."
Vince struggled to his feet and leaned one hand against the broken shelves behind him. A sly smile slipped onto his face and he shook his head. "Nothing is immortal. The power you hold will slip from your fingers and you will turn to dust like all others before you."
Ruthven's eyes narrowed and his grin slipped from his lips. "I will prove you wrong, vampire, by destroying you and finally taking this city for myself."
The balls of energy flew from his hands and struck Vince in the chest. Blood flew from the impact points and splattered the floor and furniture. Vince's eyes widened and he fell forward onto the carpet. He lay still, and a pool of blood grew beneath him.
"Vince!" I screamed.
Ruthven whipped his head around and his black eyes fell on me. The crooked grin reappeared and he strode toward me. "What a terrible host I am. I'd completely forgotten about you, Miss Stokes. I will remedy that by letting you follow your partner into death."
I scrambled backward and popped out at the rear of the desk so that stood between me and Ruthven. The glowing alchemist walked up to the other side of the desk and held a hand out towards me. A new energy ball appeared on his palm, and I backed up further until my back hit the towering window. "Give my regards to Vincent and Batholomew."
My eyes noticed movement behind Ruthven. "Um, I think you forgot something."
He frowned and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"When a vampire dies, they turn to dust."
Ruthven's eyes widened and he turned in time to let the front of his face collide with Vince's fist. The alchemist flew across the room and slammed into the untouched bookcases. The piles of books fell from the shelves and covered him completely in their pages. I returned my attention to my partner. Vince clutched his chest over his heart where blood poured from a large hole made by one of the energy balls. His sharp teeth ground together and he stood unsteadily on his feet.
I raced around the far side of the desk and grabbed his free arm. "We have to get out of here!" I ordered him.
He shrugged me off and shook his head. "No. He must. . .be destroyed," he wheezed.
Ruthven burst from the books, and the tomes flew in all di
rections. The books flew as fast as bullets and penetrated walls, chairs, and the floor like daggers. Vince whipped his hand out in front of us, and a dark blue barrier appeared before us and blocked the books from slicing into us. Ruthven's blazing eyes fell on us and the energy around him flared up like someone threw gasoline on a fire. A lot of gasoline. We're talking about a truckload.
"Vampire!" Ruthven screamed. Vince cut the air with his hand and our barrier transformed into the familiar ice daggers. They flew forward at Ruthven, but the mad alchemist raised up the remaining books and the tomes took the hit. Ruthven parted his barrier and grinned. "Feeling weak, vampire? A little thirsty?"
My eyes widened and I turned to Vince. "You have to bite me!" I commanded him.
He shook his head. "I would take too much," he refused.
"It's either that or he's going to take my life!" I snapped as I pointed a finger at Ruthven.
Vince got the point, and I got the points of two fangs buried deep into my neck. Pain shot through my body as he drained me with a speed that mirrored his sprinting ability. The world spun around me and my legs buckled. My vision faded to gray, then black, and I knew only sound and touch. The moment my vision left me I felt someone grab me and wrench me from Vince's arms. I was tossed aside like a rag doll, and I flew across the desk. My hazy vision returned in time for me to see me fly towards the window, and I raised my arms to cover my face.
A shadow flitted past me and snatched me from the air. It was Vince, and he held me close against him. I looked up into his face and saw there was color in his skin, but his wounds were only partially healed. Blood still flowed from the hole in his chest, and I could see a hint of bone beneath his charred clothes and skin.
Vince looked down at me and smiled. "It seems I may be unable to take that retirement of which we spoke."
My eyes widened and I clung to him. "Like hell you can't. You can beat him," I insisted.
Vince leaned down and captured my lips in a passionate, blood-soaked kiss. My legs wobbled beneath me and I forgot to breath. He broke us apart and held me in the crux of one arm while his other one smashed the glass window to his right. "Farewell, partner," he whispered.
"Don't you-" Vince lifted me in both hands and tossed me through the opening in the glass.
I rolled and skidded twenty yards before I dug my shaky fingers into the lawn and looked back at the house. The yard was complete chaos as werewolves and doppelgangers raced away and towards the house. Through the window I glimpsed Vince jump across the desk and grapple with Ruthven as dozens of werewolves and the shadow creatures swept into the room. Vince leapt back and stood atop the desk. He pointed his palms upward at the ceiling and a blast of icicles burst from his hands. They sailed upward and crashed through the ceiling, destroying everything in their paths. Some of the daggers burst into small pieces when they hit the ceiling, and their tiny bodies rained down on Vince's oncoming attackers, skewering them.
The whole house began to shake and the ceiling buckled beneath the strain of the holes. I clenched my teeth and pushed through my exhaustion so I could raise myself onto my feet. My legs held, and I stumbled towards the house and the window. I reached the glass just as the ceiling gave way. Vince aimed both his palms toward Ruthven as the mad man leapt at him. The icicles only slowed him down, and the pair collided as the ceiling fell to the floor.
Shattered glass, splintered wood, and broken rocks flew out from the window and knocked into me. One large rock hit me in the temple and everything went black.
Chapter 11
The next thing I remembered was light and a pair of strong arms beneath my armpits. I was dragged out from beneath a heavy piled of debris, and I blinked against the harsh light of the midday sun. "Easy there," a familiar voice called to me.
"Vince?" I weakly whispered.
"No, Officer Romero," the voice replied.
I squinted through the bright lights and saw it was indeed Romero who held me. He lifted me into his arms and carried me away from the house and towards a row of cars and vans. I was too weak to break free from his strong zombie grasp, but that didn't stop me from squirming. "No. Vince. He's still in there," I protested.
"If he is we haven't found him yet," Romero told me.
I looked over his shoulder and my eyes widened. Nothing remained of the house. All the walls had collapsed into the house and broken into millions of tiny rocks atop the fallen second floor and roof. Most of the remains were charred as though from a fire, and some of the other members of the Parasquad were still putting out the flames.
"What happened?" I asked him.
We reached one of the cars and Romero set me in the open door on the back seat. "We were hoping you could tell us that," he returned. One of his officers handed him a blanket, and he wrapped it around my shoulders and knelt in front of me. "We received reports of supernatural activity up here and by the time we arrived the place was in flames. It took us hours just to put those out so we could get close enough to inspect the wreckage. We managed to capture a few werewolves hiding in the trees along the driveway, but they aren't talking."
I pulled the blanket closer around myself and nodded at the ruined house. "This was Ruthven's house. We-Vince and I-we found a book Tim stole from him. It was the one all the others were copied from. Ruthven had Field take us here so he could get his book back and steal our rings," I told him.
Romero raised an eyebrow. "And did he?"
I shook my head. "No, but he-he did some sort of magic and Vince and him fought. Vince threw me out of the house and everything crashed down on them." I paused and clutched my head in one hand. The memories weren't pretty.
Romero leaned back and shook his head. "If the story had come from anybody but you I wouldn't have believed he was capable of saving anybody else's hide but his own."
I looked past him at the ruined wreck of a house. "He might still be in there. We have to-" I tried to stand, but Romero grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back down.
"You do nothing. If he's in there we'll find him, or what's left of him. Vampire ashes are a little different from the normal stuff so there's a chance at finding them, but that's a bad mess in there. We might overlook it," he warned me.
"Ashes? No." I turned away and shook my head. "He has to be alive. He just has to be," I insisted.
Romero caught my eyes with his own gaze. "Listen, there's not much chance of anybody being alive in there. I don't think you would've made it if you'd been any closer. You were lucky the walls fell inward or I would've dragged out your corpse."
"I-I can help. I can help find Vince. He might come to my voice," I insisted.
"You can help by staying right here. Even if he did come out the sun would probably kill him. It's best you let the professionals manage this mess," Romero advised. I pursed my lips, but nodded. What was the use of arguing? I was as weak as a lamb and wouldn't be of much use other than falling into some hole. Romero smiled and stood. "Good. Now you stay here and we'll see if we can get you some food and water."
The rest of the day was like a horrible nightmare. All I could think about was the last moments I'd seen Vince, and his lips against mine. The salvage work continued on the house, but it was slow-going. There was a basement in the house, and more than one zombie officer fell into a deep hole. A half hour before sunset I had enough energy to shuffle to the edge of the work.
Romero noticed me and pulled himself from the wreckage to stand by my side. We faced the house, or what remained of it. "I'm going to call off the search in a few minutes," he warned me.
My eyes widened and I whipped my head up to stare at him. "What? Why?"
"We may be night creatures, but this is getting too dangerous. The human cops are breathing down our necks to see what's going on up here, and I don't know how much longer I can keep them away," he revealed.
"But you can't give up! The study isn't finished yet!" I insisted.
He put a hand on my shoulder and sighed. "Yes, it is. I just finished the search m
yself. There's nothing there except some rocks and-"
"Romero!" one of his officers called to him.
"What is it?" Romero yelled back.
"I found something!"
The other officer stood at mid-center in the study. Romero stepped gently through the debris and I followed. Other officers joined us and the first one knelt and pointed at a piece of cloth that poked out from beneath a large sheet of roofing.
Romero turned to his officers. "Get it up!"
A group of them grabbed the edges of the roofing and heaved. The sheet lifted and the men carried it away to reveal the rest of the cloth. It was a business suit attached to a charred body. There was a large hole in the chest the size of a fist and a fleshy skull glared back at us. I gasped and turned away.
"Is this Ruthven?" Romero asked me.
I shut my eyes and nodded. "Yeah, it's him."
"I think that's enough. Let's get this body out of here and pack up," he called to his men. My shoulders slumped and Romero came up to stand by my side. "I'm really sorry about this, but he's gone."
I squeezed my eyes shut to keep the tears from falling. "Can I. . .can I stay here? Just for tonight?" I pleaded.
"I think I can give you that much time, but no more," he told me.
"That's enough."
The officers carted off Ruthven's body and piled into their vehicles. Romero was the last to leave. He set a hand on my shoulder. "You sure you don't want to come? It's almost dark."
"I'll be fine. I'm not afraid of the dark anymore," I assured him.
"All right. I'll need you to come down to the station later to make a full report," he requested.
"Sure. Tomorrow," I agreed.
Romero turned away and went to his car. The Parasquad turned on their lights and drove down the hill. In a few minutes I was alone. The sun in the distance glimmered its last glow as it set below the horizon. I stood among the wreckage of the house and my life, and cried my eyes out. My sobs pierced the air and my shoulders shook. I let myself fall to my knees onto the rubble and I clutched my face in my hands.