Part 15 (1/2)
”You know why you're still so p.i.s.sed at me, don't you?” Vincent snarled, twisting Seraphim's arm behind his back. Seraphim's free elbow snapped backward into Vincent's face. Blood splattered his face, and the two men broke apart, pus.h.i.+ng themselves to their feet.
Seraphim attacked first and as Vincent blocked the ferocious blows, he struggled to continue the conversation. ”G.o.dd.a.m.n it! Look at yourself! You're so f.u.c.king guilty you're like a nutcase!”
”If anyone should be guilty, it's you!” Seraphim raged.
”You think I'm not? I know I did wrong by Nenet! You think I wouldn't have done just about anything to change what happened? I can't!”
”No, you can't!”
”Sure, we were both to blame for not keeping her safe, but only one of us prevented her from becoming a hybrid!”
Seraphim stopped suddenly. His b.l.o.o.d.y hands remained in a defensive position, his fangs exposed. The vampiric glow in his eyes brightened even more beneath the sunlight, though some of the rage faded. Vincent also stood, feet braced apart, ready to continue the fight. Both Immaculate's chests heaved and they growled.
”They found the teeth marks in her neck, remember?” Vincent shouted. ”Remember!”
”I remember,” Seraphim hissed.
”I never f.u.c.king bit her! Not once! She's the only mortal I actually listened to when she asked me not to, so I know those G.o.dd.a.m.n fang marks weren't mine! Whose were they, Seraphim!”
Seraphim's hands lowered and he took a step backward, his jaw clenched. Moisture welled in his glowing eyes. He blinked back tears threatening to spill. For a moment, Trixie actually felt sorry for him.
”You were sleeping with my wife!” Vincent snarled.
”She was your wife by the laws of men!” Seraphim bellowed. ”She was mine and you used what power you had to keep us apart! She belonged with me!”
”I know, and I'm sorry!”
”You're sorry?” Seraphim's face twisted and he growled, more a sound of inconsolable sadness than rage.
”What more can I say? I could have killed you, Seraphim. When the First Father told me to make sure you burned with Rome, I could have -”
”How many times did I wish you had. If I hadn't taken her, she might still be here!”
”Like you said, she belonged with you.” Vincent's voice lowered to a normal tone. ”What you did was natural. Both of us should have thought more about her and less about ourselves. She was only a mortal.”
”I'll never make such a mistake again,” Seraphim murmured. ”But right now I don't matter. There are more important issues.”
Vincent lowered his hands and looked about to take a step closer to Seraphim. Trixie lifted a warning hand, and he nodded in her direction. ”What are you talking about, Seraphim? I know something's going on with you.”
Seraphim seemed about to speak when the wind changed, sending the scent of other vampires from the east.
Seraphim cursed and fled.
”Aw, f.u.c.k!” Vincent snarled, chasing after him, Trixie following at their heels. Vincent caught up to Seraphim in front of a cave mouth in the side of a tall, rectangular rock.
Two Immaculates were halfway into the cave. Both pulled guns as Trixie and Vincent pulled theirs. Seraphim had already fired one shot, causing one of the cave's intruders to scream and crash into the rock face, blood oozing from his chest.
Shots fired out of the cave. Apparently the Immaculates hadn't been alone. Trixie detected several scents mingled beneath the aroma of blood from the injured one. One of the shots struck Seraphim in the ribs. He leapt behind a boulder, glancing once at his injury before turning back to the cave and firing another shot.
”Get down!” Vincent bellowed at Trixie as they both dove behind oversized Cacti.
Cover me! Seraphim's voice sounded in their heads.
”He's a f.u.c.kin' maniac!” Vincent snarled.
”Do it. We'll grill him later!” Trixie snapped, taking aim at the cave mouth.
While she and Vincent fired, Seraphim raced for the cave and climbed to the top. Trixie wondered how he'd managed, since the bullet wound must have been agonizing.
The sound of fighting erupted from inside the cave, and the shooting stopped. ”I'm going in,” Vincent said. ”Watch my a.s.s!” ”Now's not the time to think about s.e.x!”
He cast her an annoyed look before hurrying for the cave by way of boulders and cacti.
”What the f.u.c.k am I doing?” Trixie muttered. Still firing her gun to keep the attention off Vincent, she moved closer to the cave mouth. Inside, Vincent and Seraphim fought three Immaculates while two others lay dead on the cave floor.
Seraphim had a good handle on one while Vincent fought off two. Trixie grabbed one of Vincent's opponents in a choke hold and snapped his neck. Knowing he would most likely recover, she hesitated before acting on instinct and firing a platinum bullet through his heart.
”Kill him?” she glanced at Seraphim and Vincent who stood panting, amidst the bodies.
”Yes!” Seraphim bellowed, staggering against the cave wall and sinking to the floor, clutching his ribs.
”No!” Vincent grasped Trixie's wrist and jerked it upward as she fired. The bullet bounced off the cave walls and she cringed.
”You f.u.c.kin1 moron!” she screamed. ”That could have hit one of us!”
”We need to take these guys in for questioning. The ones left alive that is. We got G.o.dd.a.m.n trigger happy samurai over there!” Vincent released Trixie and knelt beside Seraphim. He tore off his s.h.i.+rt and pressed it to the wound. ”Platinum. Get in touch with Jules, will you, Trix?”
”You got it.” Trixie pulled out her cell phone and moments later the physician picked up. ”Yeah, Jules, honey, we need major backup. Ten miles east of our destination...Yeah, dead and alive. Seraphim's got a bullet wound...” She turned to Vincent. ”How bad is it, baby?”
”Yo!” Vincent slapped Seraphim's face. ”Stay with me, you pain in the a.s.s!”
”Looks pretty bad,” Trixie told Jules. ”He's pa.s.sing out on us. Lost plenty of blood. Platinum bullet...Sure, we'll get him stable until you get here...Oh, yeah, definitely get Lindsay involved.. .Thanks, Jules. See you soon.”
Trixie hung up, tied up the two vampires still left alive, then a.s.sisted Vincent in bandaging Seraphim who regained consciousness by the time they were finished.
”We know there's s.h.i.+t going on you haven't told us about,” Vincent said. ”After Jules fixes you up, we're all going to have a nice long talk with Adam Lindsay. Most likely the Jury will follow. If you want to level with us now, we might be able to help you.”
”You help me? ” Seraphim shoved Vincent's helping hand away when he tried to sit up straighter. ”Since when?”
”Looks like this is at least the second time I know about he tried to save your a.s.s,” Trixie said.
”I'm having a look around this place.” Vincent stood and circled the cave. ”You're hiding something in here. I know it.”
”I'm not hiding anything,” Seraphim said.
”You ran in here like a duck with its head cut off.”
”Chicken with its head cut off,” Trixie said.
”Whatever the f.u.c.k kind of bird with its head cut off!” Vincent snarled. ”The point is, whatever you're hiding is so important you risked your life to protect it. Is it The Flower?”