Crimson City Part 25

One of the helicopters floated over to her. The men inside were waving her toward them, as if offering her a ride out of the rain. She saw the weapons they had in their hands; she saw that they outnumbered her. And she leaped straight into their helicopter, grabbed a grenade launcher and pumped explosives into the nearby spotlight. The men grappled with her.

The light exploded, sending shards of stinging violet and gla.s.s into the night. Everyone cringed in the copter, and Fleur escaped the soldiers to get off another shot. She blew up the second light and threw the launcher out the copter afterward.

A blanket of darkness covered everything. Fleur's eyes adjusted quickly, but even so, the black night made the sounds of battle seem that much louder, made the chaos seem that much more frenzied. Shrieking metal and cries of pain filled the air. With the two major spotlights gone, the humans adjusted, switching on several supplemental green night-vision lights, and the battle raged on.

Fleur recognized the combatant whose weapon she'd stolen: one of Dain's old team, Trask. JB pulled her legs out from under her and threw her down on the floor of the copter. She noted with some pleasure that it took three of the big strong soldiers to hold her down, bind her wrists behind her back, and stuff a gag in her mouth. It was quite possibly the last pleasure she would enjoy. The helicopter turned sharply and headed off into the smoke clogged sky.

Oddly, nervous as she was about what was in store for her, Fleur worried more for Dain. It was strange, not to have even seen him. Not to even know if he was still alive. The last thing she'd wanted was his blood on her hands, but that would have been better than his blood on someone else's.

Standing next to Kippenham, Dain was nearly blown off the top of the building from the wind as the helicopter touched down. His jacket flapped around him as a swirl of grit from the roof slammed into his face. The door opened and JB and Trask, on either side of a bound and gagged Fleur, led her out of the copter and across the rooftop toward him.

His teammates looked stricken, as if they'd been forced to choose loyalties and their decision didn't quite feel right. JB looked Dain in the eyes, searched Dain's face looking for the truth in all of this mess. Dain couldn't blame him for following orders. If the positions had been reversed, if he'd known as little as JB and the others about the reality of Crimson City, he'd have done exactly the same thing.

The transport copter switched to idle, and though the city was still alive with activity, the only sound that registered was the heavy thump of the blades slowing to a halt. Dain stared at Fleur. The lower half of her face was obscured by a fang-gag, a sort of overzealous mask used by humans when handling vampire suspects, but her eyes told the whole story. She was angry, she smelled blood, and if given half a chance she'd quite possibly kill them all.

Kippenham gestured to his men. "Leave Dumont and take the copter back to the fight."

JB stared in disbelief. He looked at Trask, then at Dain. His body seemed to jolt back slightly as if his boss's intention had suddenly dawned on him. He pushed Fleur to her knees.

Kippenham gestured to the copter with his gun. "Take the copter back down. I'll call you for a lift."

JB marshaled his emotions, set his jaw. He tapped Trask, who let go of Fleur and started back to the transport.

"JB," Kippenham repeated in a warning voice when the other man didn't follow.

"Yes, sir." He looked at Dain. "See you around man," he said softly. He raised his hand in a formal salute, the kind the B-Ops team had all but forgone these days. Then he quickly turned and jogged to the chopper.

Kippenham looked at Fleur, still bound and gagged. Her gaze darted to Dain, questioning. Dain felt as though he could almost feel the pounding of her heart in time with his.

"I think we're out of words," Kippenham said as he c.o.c.ked his weapon. It was a UV gun. "I wish you knew how sorry I am."

As Dain's mind raced, Kipp checked his ammunition. Fleur struggled up from her knees, jumping to her feet and running to the edge of the rooftop. Kippenham swore, as if this inconvenience were all he needed on a day already long turned for the worst.

He waved Dain to follow and drew a second weapon. This he kept pointed at Dain, while the first was aimed at Fleur. Fleur hopped to the ledge but just froze there, like a bird with a broken wing. Dain knew she couldn't fly bound like that, with her balance off and her arms tied at the wrists. The only thing she could do was throw herself off, knowing she'd sustain physical injuries but hoping to outrun or dodge the fatal UV bullet in the process. She'd be helpless as she healed on the cement below.

She seemed to be weighing her options as Kippen-ham raised his gun in mock salute. "This is for Serena. And for the future of the human race. I'm sorry it comes to this, but there you are."

Fleur looked wildly between Dain and Kippenham.

"Jump!" Dain yelled. He couldn't figure out any other solution.

Fleur didn't move, but Dain's yell surprised Kippenham enough to make the man hesitate. Dain leaped at Fleur, throwing his body in front of her. Kipp's gun discharged.He didn't pause to look, just wheeled around.

Kippenham reloaded his weapon with a practiced flick of his wrist and raised the gun once more to point it at Fleur. Dain kicked out hard, planting his boot squarely in Kipp's chest. The blow was as much as he could muster.

It worked: Kippenham flew backwards toward the side of the building, the gun flying out of his hand. In an arc, it tumbled down into the street far below. Kipp's s.h.i.+rt billowed out in a white cloud around him as he flailed, then he went over the edge too. His knees hooked on the ledge and the back of him smashed into the window on the top floor below, sending gla.s.s shards tinkling to the sidewalk. There was no way he'd have the strength to hold on for long.

Conscious of Fleur struggling upright behind him, Dain headed for Kippenham, his hands catching the man's ankles, holding him steady. Panicked gasps came from the man. And Dain was just about to unleash the full intensity of his fury when a wave of nausea overtook him. He let go of Kipp's ankles and stared down at his own chest, where blood bloomed red across his white s.h.i.+rt. Kipp's bullet had gone through.

"Dain," Fleur called weakly from behind him. "Dain?"

"Help me up," Kippenham begged.

Dain clutched his chest and stared at the man's boots hooked around the ledge. One had already slipped. Kippenham didn't have much more time.

But he himself had even less.

"I saved you!" Kippenham cried. "You were my experiment."

Dain didn't have the strength to answer, let alone the strength to help. "A failed experiment," he whispered. He watched helplessly as Kippenham lost his grip on the ledge and fell. The man didn't cry out as he disappeared, which made the sound of the impact that much more jarring.

Collapsing on the rooftop overlooking Crimson City below, Dain dropped his chin to his chest and surrendered to the darkness.

"Dain! Please wake up. Please, please wake up." It had taken Fleur precious minutes to work free of her bindings and release the gag. She ran to Dain. "Why did you do that?" she whispered, battling tears. "Why?"

Her fingers pressed down on his wound in a futile attempt to staunch the flow of blood, but it was seeping out fast; his face was already pale. The pressure seemed to revive him for a moment. "Why did you do that, Dain?"

His eyes searched hers. "You know why."

She shook her head, unable to make a sound except a desperate sob. "I can't let you die. Maybe... If..."

He frowned and held on to her hand weakly. "Don't even think about it. That bullet was UV. If you drink my..." He broke off, unable to go on. "I love you, Fleur. It was worth it. All of it... was worth it___"

"Dain!"

His head rolled to the side. He was nearly out of time.

Fleur felt the presence of her cousins behind her, but she didn't glance back. She could feel them will her away from Dain. She thought she could hear Marius's voice in her head: Let him go. You know what you have to do. You're a Warrior vampire, a leader of your people. Don't make the same mistake twice.

Fleur let her tears stream down her face and fall silently over Dain's body. She felt his pulse fade.

"Lay him down and come back with us," Marius said.

Flashes of Hayden struck Fleur, of the fateful night when she'd taken his blood in a bite of pa.s.sion and love. But the love hadn't been true. If it had, if he'd stayed, if he'd believed, she would have been forgiven.

But this love between her and Dain was true. It was the most real thing she'd ever known, and if she had to choose between him and everything else, she'd take her chances and suffer whatever consequences her actions might bring. You'll have to trust me, Marius, she thought. You and everyone else.

"I love you, too," she whispered to Dain, stroking the hair away from his forehead.

Dain's pulse dropped to the cusp of oblivion, and Fleur leaned over, fangs bared, and made him one of her kind.

Chapter Thirty-one.

Fleur had no idea how long she'd been in bed. Her mouth tasted sour, as if she'd been sick. Sitting up, she realized she was still sick. Her head spinning, she stumbled off the mattress to the bathroom, and had to collapse on the floor and roll herself into a ball just to fight the nausea. UV poisoning.

Well, she wasn't dead. She felt way too bad to be dead. The cool marble revived her a bit. She reached out and pulled a towel off the rack, using the plush fabric as a blanket. If Dain could only see her now. Dain! Fleur sat bolt upright on the bathroom floor. She had to find out about him. She had to find out about them.

She stood up, using the sink to support her weight as she did, head bowed over the basin. She ran some cold water and washed her face, then looked into the mirror, nearly scaring herself to death. The face was that of a stranger. Her hair was limp and matted, plastered to her cheeks.

Cuts marked the corners of her mouth where they'd gagged her, dried blood trailed down her neck. Dain's blood? Fleur squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then took another look. A fat lip, bruises at her cheekbones, along her collar-if she stripped down she was sure she'd find the same all over her body. Her eyes were bloodshot, circles beneath. A weary look filled the depths of her blue irises.

This is who I am, now. I'm a fighter. I'm a leader. If her people ever questioned that, they need not question it now.

She smiled suddenly at a thought: If I ever questioned that, I need not question it now. Maybe the dirty, embattled face in the mirror wasn't such a stranger after all. Fleur was a champion of her people. Whether they'd see it that way remained to be seen, especially if Dain was still alive as a vampire. But she didn't really care. Because she had no regrets. The only regret she'd have was not making him sooner if he hadn't survived the change.

And she knew for sure who the enemy was now. Certain humans in the military had sent that mech. The next step was figuring out what to do about it, and with the least loss of innocent life.

Fleur looked down at her hands, their fingernails broken, the knuckles cut... She could change before approaching the others, make herself more presentable, but that hardly seemed appropriate. This was as much who she was now as the woman in satin ball gowns and jewels. She was finally everything she'd been meant to be.

She wiped the rest of the water off her face and turned for the door. Her hands weren't even shaking.

The hall was suspiciously quiet. On a whim, Fleur tried the door on the suite next to hers. It swung open easily. Empty. Medical was in the next building; she hoped Dain was there.

She made her way to the top of the stairs, but decided that it would take too long and be too painful to walk the floors to the a.s.sembly room. She jumped over the banister and let herself float down. Upon landing, she headed down the hall toward the noise of a gathering, steeling herself against the growing concern over how her people would accept her.

She opened the door to the back of the a.s.sembly room and saw her three cousins at the podium. She knew they could sense her presence. She limped across the floor, her head held high, her back straight, her eyes making contact. She searched for Paulina, knowing her friend would instantly give away the' others' mood. Marius's look was impenetrable.

The three men stepped down from the podium and Fleur silently limped up to it. Her head bowed as she fought the urge to be sick, and she cursed how bad it must look. What words to say: 1 did it again, but I did this for you as well as me? Please understand? Please accept me? Fleur licked her dry lips and looked up at them.

"Please..." she uttered hoa.r.s.ely. Unexpected tears p.r.i.c.ked at her eyes as she looked out at the audience. "Please," she tried again. She just shook her head.

And all at once, a smattering of applause broke out.

Fleur looked up, half afraid it was a joke. But suddenly all present took to their feet and the applause spread throughout the hall. Fleur looked to Marius for confirmation, and he gave her a mere flicker of a smile and a knowing bow.

At last. At last Fleur Dumont had been forgiven by her people. At last she'd erased her damaged past.

And at last she'd been accepted for all that she had to offer-as a leader, as a fighter, and as one who knew true love.

Dain stood at the back of the room, his right side bandaged, his strength sapped, leaning on a sweet-smelling redhead who had insisted he attend some sort of a.s.sembly. He'd been in a kind of fever, felt as though he could have stayed in bed for the rest of his life, but this Paulina had promised him he'd eventually see Fleur. And after hearing that, it would have taken a whole army to keep him down.

For you could manufacture, rewind, black out, or manipulate the past, but the future was untouched, pure. It was his. In a city where loyalty seemed always for sale and allegiances could be changed with a bullet or a bite, there was only one thing left. There was only one thing that was true. One thing that was real. There was only one thing is his heart that he knew for sure mattered and counted, and it always would: Fleur.

Yes, his past might belong to the humans, or even with the mechs, but his future in the vampire world was all his own to craft and create. There would be no more manipulation. And as long as he had Fleur, he had everything he could want.

When he'd seen Fleur stumble out to the podium, he'd wanted to run to her. She didn't know that Mar-ius and the others had told the a.s.sembly everything. That their response had been one of thankfulness, of loyalty, of acceptance. But then her friends and family responded with fervor, with natural acceptance, and he didn't want to get in the way of her moment.

As she stood there at the podium and looked out amongst the cheering vampires, he saw she was searching the audience. What did she seek? Then her eyes met his, and he knew. It was as if they were the only two people in the room. She started toward him, pus.h.i.+ng past the compliments, the pats on the back, the handshakes and the airy kisses. Paulina's hand dropped and she moved away, letting Dain go as he allowed himself to be drawn where he wished. The crowd separated, a glittering ma.s.s of color down either side with an aisle straight to Fleur.

He met her in the middle; Dain just pulled Fleur into his arms, the pain in his side fading in the face of such intense joy. He put his lips to her ear and closed his eyes. "I love you, Fleur. I'm not the least bit sorry any of this has happened, if it means I'll be with you."

Fleur laughed. "You say that now..."

He laughed too, and he meant his next words more than he could express: "I'll say it forever."

Chapter Thirty-two.

Dain's preference for doughnuts and coffee didn't change once he became a vampire. Sure, he had to concentrate hard not to keep running his tongue over his fangs in a giveaway manner, but for all anyone knew, he was still human. He could easily pa.s.s for one, anyway, having been one all his life-and it'd be even easier once he had his fangs filed. He still liked to go down to the lower strata once in a while, though he stayed away from his old haunts.

Stepping into a corner market on the opposite side of the city from his old apartment, Dain headed to the counter and asked for a pack of smokes, a copy of The Crimson Post, and a bouquet of blood-red dahlias for Fleur that caught his fancy. As he loaded his purchases into a flimsy plastic sack, a hand reached over, pulled out the smokes, then dropped them back in the bag.

"That c.r.a.p will kill you," a familiar voice said.

From behind him, JB reached out and grabbed a handful of bite-sized candy bars from a warped bin on the counter and tossed them down next to the register. He added a handful of change. "So, how's it going?"

"Fine," Dain said, glancing out the door to see if JB had any backup. An empty squad car was parked in front of the store. "You?"

JB nodded to the clerk and unwrapped one of the candies on the counter. "I'm good. I'm getting a promotion." He looked up at Dain. "What with you gone and the boss dead, it's kind of cleared the way."

"And here I thought I owed you a favor," Dain said dryly.

"Oh, you definitely do." JB laughed, his mouth full. "And I can always use a good informant."

Dain smiled. "Let me know when you plan to stop by and collect. I'm sure Fleur would love to have you for dinner."

JB's chewing slowed as he stared at Dain's fangs. "Yeah..."

"Question." Dain pulled the newspaper out of his bag and pointed to the lead article. "How much of this is bulls.h.i.+t?"

JB arched an eyebrow. Taking the newspaper from Dain's hands, he said, "Let's see... both the Feds and the Crimson City governments are apologizing up and down for unsanctioned covert activities contrary to the truce between the species..." He looked at Dain. '"Unsanctioned covert activities.' Well, I guess the big dogs at I-Ops are definitely using Kippenham as the scapegoat. I thought so. They sent around a memo. They say he pulled that untested mech from the research facility and sent it out to kill vamps as an act of personal vengeance, and that any further such actions will be met by severe disciplinary action, blah, blah, blah."

"Now that Kipp's dead," Dain said, "we can all go back to normal, eh?"

JB nodded. "Exactly. Everything should be back to normal shortly." He didn't comment on how much he believed that. He looked down and continued reading from the paper. "Blah, blah, blah... 'Both national and city governments are doing what they can to stabilize vampire-human relations...' more blah, blah... 'and Kippenham's mech has been taken offline and deleted.' Oh, for G.o.d's sake... who wrote this?" he asked.

Dain understood what he was talking about. "Didn't you bring in the mech and delete it?"

JB looked up and shook his head. "No. I was going to ask you if you knew anything about it... er, one way or another. It was programmed to return to the base right after its mission. It's still not back. Something tells me not to expect it to walk up and knock on the station door anytime soon." He shrugged and tossed the newspaper back in Dain's bag. "That article's fifty-percent bulls.h.i.+t. Of course, maybe it'll keep the bra.s.s from doing anything stupid for a while." He didn't look very hopeful.

"Okay, thanks. So... is anything new?" Dain asked lamely. It seemed odd to be so far out of loop. Of course, he was out of one loop and into another; in the interest of full disclosure he could have told JB that the vampires were planning to pursue better vampire-werewolf diplomacy, particularly with respect to plans for defense against future human attacks. That they'd approached the Vendix to help set it up. That they'd already approached the Grand Dame Alpha for a meeting. He said nothing.

JB gave him a careful look. "Well, with things back to normal, the only things left to deal with are the killings not directly related to Kipp's orders. Most of them were individual... you know, because of the tension-but you knew that. Of course, there have been a few... well, there are a few recent killings of vampires that we haven't been able to figure out." He looked like he didn't want to talk about them.

"You think they're random?"