Read Online Kiss the Dead by Laurell K. Hamilton - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Laurell K. Hamilton
Ads: Link
raises the hair on your arms, and makes your shoulder blades tighten in anticipation of something bad. The vampires flinched, except for her.
“Don’t,” I said.
“Stevens,” Urlrich said.
Stevens put his gun point-blank against the woman’s back. She smiled at me, and the fear was gone. Shit. She turned that smile up to Stevens, and she was suddenly your favorite grandmother. She radiated good cheer; you could almost smell the cookies baking.
“No one move!” Urlrich said, and his voice had that drill sergeant bite to it.
She smiled at Stevens. I would have liked to say it was vampire mind tricks, but she looked so harmless, so human, so like the storybook grandmother. His gun lowered. I think the rookie just didn’t have it in him to shoot, point-blank, into a handcuffed elderly woman. She looked so human.
She turned and ran, and Stevens didn’t shoot her. Urlrich was blocked by other vampires that weren’t running. He couldn’t use the shotgun.
I yelled, “Fuck!” and started to run. I yelled for Smith as I went. Guns exploded outside—lots of them.
I yelled, “No!” I don’t know what I was saying no to, but I knew that whatever was happening outside, the vampires had wanted it to happen, and if they wanted it, it was bad.
I felt the vampires. Felt their power. They were going all vampireapeshit. I ran to the door, AR up and ready; the darkness blazed with holy fire. Every holy object in the courtyard was glowing with white, cool fire, like stars had fallen to the earth and just kept shining, but stars are just suns, distant, burning suns; they burned now.
There were bodies on the ground. The vampires were screaming, falling to the ground, trying to hide their eyes from the glow. It was so bright that I couldn’t look directly at any of it, so everyone was shadows and shapes in the bright, bright lights.
My own cross burst into light. I put my back against the wall on the side of the open door and wheeled around to point my AR at the few vampires left inside. Urlrich was doing the same thing on the other side of the door. His tie-tack cross was blazing. We were both squinting against the light, trying to aim past it. It was the serious downside to the holy objects. If the vampires fell over and huddled from the light, you were fine, but if they didn’t, it was hard to shoot at them. Somehow I knew what vampire I’d be looking at.
Blondie had Stevens in front of him, using him as a shield. They were both on their knees. The broken chain from his cuffs to his shackles dangled near Stevens’s face.
The vampire’s eyes glowed like gray ice with moonlight behind it. “The young officer has no faith in his cross.”
Stevens’s cross-shaped lapel pin wasn’t glowing.
“Stevens,” Urlrich said. He had his shotgun to his shoulder, but he didn’t dare use it, not with the two of them so close together. If there was a shot to be had, it would have to be mine. I was good enough, if the range was any judge, to hit Blondie’s head where it peeked out from around Stevens, but that was at the range. If I didn’t hit inside the seven ring, I just adjusted my aim. If I missed this shot, I’d hit Stevens. It would be a head shot, and there would be no second chance for Stevens. But I couldn’t aim past the damn glow of my cross. I tore it off and threw it into the corner.
“Blake,” Urlrich said, voice low and urgent.
I ignored him and let my eyes adjust to the dimness.
Blondie tucked his head even tighter against Stevens so that it wasjust the barest sliver of his face, and that one glowing eye half lost in Stevens’s short hair. “Don’t do it,” the vampire said.
I slowed my breathing first, it all begins with the breathing, and then I slowed my heartbeat, timed it. I thought softly, in time to that slowing beat, “Fuck… fuck… fuck… fuck.…”
“Even if you can make the shot, you can’t make it fast enough.”
I kept my voice even, my vision on that edge of face.
“Don’t,” I said.
“Stevens,” Urlrich said.
Stevens put his gun point-blank against the woman’s back. She smiled at me, and the fear was gone. Shit. She turned that smile up to Stevens, and she was suddenly your favorite grandmother. She radiated good cheer; you could almost smell the cookies baking.
“No one move!” Urlrich said, and his voice had that drill sergeant bite to it.
She smiled at Stevens. I would have liked to say it was vampire mind tricks, but she looked so harmless, so human, so like the storybook grandmother. His gun lowered. I think the rookie just didn’t have it in him to shoot, point-blank, into a handcuffed elderly woman. She looked so human.
She turned and ran, and Stevens didn’t shoot her. Urlrich was blocked by other vampires that weren’t running. He couldn’t use the shotgun.
I yelled, “Fuck!” and started to run. I yelled for Smith as I went. Guns exploded outside—lots of them.
I yelled, “No!” I don’t know what I was saying no to, but I knew that whatever was happening outside, the vampires had wanted it to happen, and if they wanted it, it was bad.
I felt the vampires. Felt their power. They were going all vampireapeshit. I ran to the door, AR up and ready; the darkness blazed with holy fire. Every holy object in the courtyard was glowing with white, cool fire, like stars had fallen to the earth and just kept shining, but stars are just suns, distant, burning suns; they burned now.
There were bodies on the ground. The vampires were screaming, falling to the ground, trying to hide their eyes from the glow. It was so bright that I couldn’t look directly at any of it, so everyone was shadows and shapes in the bright, bright lights.
My own cross burst into light. I put my back against the wall on the side of the open door and wheeled around to point my AR at the few vampires left inside. Urlrich was doing the same thing on the other side of the door. His tie-tack cross was blazing. We were both squinting against the light, trying to aim past it. It was the serious downside to the holy objects. If the vampires fell over and huddled from the light, you were fine, but if they didn’t, it was hard to shoot at them. Somehow I knew what vampire I’d be looking at.
Blondie had Stevens in front of him, using him as a shield. They were both on their knees. The broken chain from his cuffs to his shackles dangled near Stevens’s face.
The vampire’s eyes glowed like gray ice with moonlight behind it. “The young officer has no faith in his cross.”
Stevens’s cross-shaped lapel pin wasn’t glowing.
“Stevens,” Urlrich said. He had his shotgun to his shoulder, but he didn’t dare use it, not with the two of them so close together. If there was a shot to be had, it would have to be mine. I was good enough, if the range was any judge, to hit Blondie’s head where it peeked out from around Stevens, but that was at the range. If I didn’t hit inside the seven ring, I just adjusted my aim. If I missed this shot, I’d hit Stevens. It would be a head shot, and there would be no second chance for Stevens. But I couldn’t aim past the damn glow of my cross. I tore it off and threw it into the corner.
“Blake,” Urlrich said, voice low and urgent.
I ignored him and let my eyes adjust to the dimness.
Blondie tucked his head even tighter against Stevens so that it wasjust the barest sliver of his face, and that one glowing eye half lost in Stevens’s short hair. “Don’t do it,” the vampire said.
I slowed my breathing first, it all begins with the breathing, and then I slowed my heartbeat, timed it. I thought softly, in time to that slowing beat, “Fuck… fuck… fuck… fuck.…”
“Even if you can make the shot, you can’t make it fast enough.”
I kept my voice even, my vision on that edge of face.
Similar Books
