Part 8 (2/2)
Dust as the monster went up like kindling beneath Jamie's makes.h.i.+ft stake.
That's for Eri.
More Cursers rushed him. His foot slipped on the floor in a pool of blood that he thought might be his, and he crashed down onto one knee. He managed to hold on to his stake, and he jabbed it sharply upward into a Cursed One's chest while he reached for another stake with his free hand.
That's for Maeve.
He hacked and slashed and kept turning, never letting anything get behind him.
That's for Northern Ireland.
Another Curser dead.
That's for the university, the students and teachers all dead.
And another.
That one's for me and the life you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds stole from me.
And at last he ran out of weapons and still there were more vampires.
The front door suddenly exploded inward, and a hail of arrows came whizzing through. One skimmed his jaw, and he dropped to the ground, pus.h.i.+ng a table over to use as cover. There was the roar of angry vampires all around him.
And then there was nothing.
Slowly Jamie sat up to survey the bar. Vampire dust swirled in the air, but nothing else moved. He eased himself up more so that he could get a better look at the door. A slender form filled it, and for a moment he thought it was a young boy. In each hand there was a specially designed crossbow fitted with three bolts each.
Cautiously his rescuer stepped inside, and Jamie saw that it was a girl. She was Skye's age, maybe a year or two younger. She had flaming red hair and enormous green eyes. She was dressed in military-style fatigues, and her hair was pulled back with a black hair elastic.
”I think you got them all. And thanks,” he said.
She swiveled toward him with her bows extended. He dropped back down behind the table, afraid she might shoot him by mistake.
”Come out,” she ordered in a lilting Irish accent.
He stood slowly, putting his hands where she could see him.
”How many more of you are there?” she asked.
”Just me.” He stood and stepped around the table toward her.
”That's as far as you go,” she said. ”I'll dust you same as the others.”
”I'm not a bleeding Curser!”
She dropped one of the crossbows and, swift as lightning, hurled something at him. A gla.s.s vial shattered against his shoulder, and water sprayed his face.
”Oi!” he bellowed.
She c.o.c.ked her head. ”That's holy water. You're not burning.”
”I told you, not a b.l.o.o.d.y vampire.” He pointed to where the mirror had hung, but noticed that it had been destroyed. Nothing showed through but the moldy wall that had been behind it.
”Well, you smell like one,” she observed, lowering her one weapon as she stooped to reclaim the other crossbow.
Jamie stared at her.
”If you're not a fanger, what are you doin' in a bleedin' pub?” she asked, indicating their surroundings.
He lifted his chin and crossed his arms over his heaving chest. ”Getting a short, what you think?”
She regarded him with large green eyes. ”You're not from around here, are you?”
”Belfast. I haven't been home nor here, either, in a while.” He squinted at her. ”Why?”
She looked at him as if he were a moron. ”Pubs are only for fangers and those what want to drink with them.”
He closed the distance between them and grabbed her shoulders. ”What are you saying?”
She stared down at his hand on her right shoulder, but she didn't move away from him. ”Been that way at least a year. Irish, Welsh, Scots, English, we've been driven out of our own pubs by the b.l.o.o.d.y b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.”
He read the truth in her eyes, and rage flared inside him. ”They took our beer? And no one fought back?”
”Hard to find any fighters back home,” she retorted. ”Fangers have killed most of 'em. All that's left are children and old men and cowards.”
”Say you're a liar.”
”I'm not.” She made a face at him. ”They took our whiskey, too.”
There were no words for what he felt, just a sense of deep anguish. It was a fist to his gut.
He let her go, and she showed her back as she headed outside. He grabbed his bag and followed after.
”So what are you doing here?” she asked as he caught up.
”Looking for a friend of mine that's been taken.”
<script>