Bite Marks

But then I wouldn’t have this searing guilt.

“Not much can down a man of his caliber,” Tabitha said, smirking down at Vayl. “But when I saw him talking with Laal and Pajo, I knew I’d found his vulnerability.” The rage that erupted inside my head actually surprised me. Oh, I’d felt levels of anger that would shrivel most souls. But this—it felt so big that I wouldn’t have been shocked to find it billowing behind me like a giant storm cloud. That she’d dare to try such a move on any honorable man would’ve made me want to cut her throat. But that she had taken my man and tried to make him grovel, as if that proud head could ever be bowed. I ground my teeth and wished that I could burn her where she stood. Yeah, despite the consequences, I might have if she hadn’t been holding a tearful toddler.

I looked at the little girl. And felt something I hadn’t in Crindertab’s, when I’d been distracted by karaoke and greasy fries. A small stirring from a tiny body that had, I’d wager, already died once in this life. I stopped by the side of the road. And smiled.

“You’re going to be all right,” I told little Alice. “When this is all over Cole and I will take you up to the mountains, where it’s cold and snowy. If you’re like us, which I’m sure you are, you won’t even get chilled.”

I dropped my eyes to Vayl’s. As soon as his flashed from black to red, I knew he understood. I felt his power snap, eager to roar out of him. But there was still Ruvin to consider. The seinji knelt, blank-faced, brokenhearted, shaking his head every few seconds as wave after wave of truth crashed over him. So even if Tabitha’s hostage was a Sensitive, which would give her near immunity to Vayl’s attacks, Ruvin might not survive the blizzard my sverhamin wanted to bury his wife in. We’d have to make this one surgical.

Tykes began to convulse. “Wha—what’s happening?” he asked.

“You’re about to die,” I told him. “Slowly. Painfully. It’s going to be a closed-casket funeral.” He shook his head as Tabitha kicked Ruvin in the back. “Get up!” she said. “As soon as the larvae have begun feasting on you I’ll carry them to the Space Complex myself.”

“How’re you going to do that?” I asked. “It’s a long walk from here and your sky car’s on its way to a clambake.”

“I’m not just proficient at stealing babies,” Tabitha said, shaking Alice in her arms. She jerked her head backward, directing my attention to an old pickup truck so covered with dust it looked more pink than red. She’d parked it in the alley between the doctor’s office and the hardware store, so all I could see was the tailgate and the dented chrome where she’d cornered too fast and slid into the side of the building.

Tykes screamed as the skin of his face began to bulge.

I raised an eyebrow at Vayl. He lifted his chin. As we poised to attack, a voice behind Tabitha said,

“Hello.”

Astral came trotting around her feet to stand at mine.

Alice squealed, “Kitty!” and reached down for her, dropping her weight so fast that Tabitha couldn’t keep her balanced. She clutched at the single leg that remained in her grasp while dropping the blade to prevent an accidental stabbing.

Vayl whirled, grasping Tabitha’s knife hand so quickly that his movements blurred. We heard a crack. A scream. And then Vayl was on her. And not even Ufran could stop the forces he speared through her body.

“Ruvin! Run!” I yelled, lunging for the kid just as Astral roared—like the MGM lion! Ruvin started, fell, scrabbled toward the road’s shoulder.

Alice didn’t even squeak as I pulled her out of Tabitha’s stiffening arms, she was so busy giggling at the funny kitty. Who’d crouched in the road, her tail lashing the asphalt like she meant to spring on her prey at any moment. I didn’t know what she thought she could do to Tykes, who was flat on his back, bleeding so heavily his clothes looked more like field bandages than office attire. But she looked serious.

I gave the kid to Ruvin. “Get her away,” I told him. “Don’t let her see. Anything.” He nodded and hustled her into the shadows.

“Miles,” I snapped. “Can you hear me?”

“Yeah.”

“Tell Polly and Lymon their kid’s okay and we’ll bring her in a minute.”

“Uh-oh. Polly just went to check on her—” Blood-curdling scream. Polly hadn’t been kidding about the lung capacity. She could do the victim in a slasher movie any day. “I’ll tell them.”

“And stay away, dude. The larvae are hatching and I don’t want them to catch your scent.”

“Jaz!” It was Cole. “What do you need?”

“For you and Kyphas to control those Ufranites until we figure this out!” I replied.

Vayl rose, dropping Tabitha to the road, a blank-eyed shaman-doll whose icy blue skin had finally given her nose the hue she’d always wanted. She wasn’t dead. No, not quite. We couldn’t afford to make a martyr of her. But she was going to take a while to thaw.

“Anything?” I asked him. He had a nifty way of absconding with others’ powers. So I was hoping…

He shook his head. “She possesses nothing innate. It is all contained within the feathers and leathers she wears. She simply acts as a conduit.”

I drew Grief and walked up to Tykes. His face, stretched in a silent scream of pain, might’ve been covered in tears. But you couldn’t see them for the blood.

“No larvae yet,” I said.

Vayl came to stand beside me. “They do say every birth is different.” Tykes moaned. “Kill me. Please.”

So easy to pull the trigger. Usually they’re begging me not to. I’d like to say it’s a little harder then.

But… no. Maybe I’m like an alcoholic who knows she’s offing brain cells but doesn’t care because she can’t see them dying. Only mine are in my soul. Hey, as long as I avoid any sort of introspection for the next sixty years, I should be fine.