Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond(26)
Author: Kim Harrison

Pierce pulled me to it. "I’ll catch you."

I held my breath as he nonchalantly stepped off the edge of the floor and dropped from sight. From across the room came a soft groan, and the vampire moved.

Pulse hammering, I sat on the floor and dangled my feet. "Here I come!" I warned him, then dropped.

I stifled a shriek, but it came out as a yelp when he caught me and we fell in a tangle of arms and legs. We were in a lower living room with soft carpet and lighting, and expensive paintings on the walls. An entertainment center stood in one corner. There were two doors, one beside us, the other across the room.

"You’re heavier than you look," Pierce puffed, and I scrambled off of him.

"Yeah, well, you’re a lousy catch." I glanced up at the hole in the floor, then back to the TVs. There were a couple of them, and my lips parted when I recognized a black and white shot of my little car looking funny out there against the expensive estates. Closer to the house was the imprint in the drift where Pierce hit. It made me glad we’d come in the front.

A frightened whimper caught my attention. Together Pierce and I looked to a far corner dusky with a soft light. My hope withered to nothing as I saw Sarah in the grip of a small man dressed in casual sophistication. His silk-clad arm was wrapped around her, covering her mouth. Tears marked her face, and she was terrified.

"Gordian Pierce," the vampire said in a soft, almost feminine voice. "You should have stayed dead."

I pressed back into Pierce, then realizing it made me look afraid, I rocked forward. I was still holding his hand. I was telling myself it was so he could do his magic, but the real reason was I was as scared as Sarah.

"You haven’t changed," Pierce said, a new accent coloring his words. "Still the same Nancy boy forcing your putrid self on little girls, I see."

Sarah made a heartbreaking sound, and the vampire, Christopher, I guess, stiffened. His knuckles went white where he pressed his hand over her mouth. "I saw you in the ground," he said bitterly. "You shouldn’t be here."

Pierce’s hand clenched on mine in a bitter anger. "Your first mistake was putting me in blasphemed ground," he said shortly. "It left me in a mind to return. Eliminating your filth of existence is worth postponing heaven for."

Christopher’s chin rose, and a snarl curved his lips up. I knew he was several hundred years old, but he looked thirty. Witch magic at its finest.

"Good," he said, shoving the girl to a nearby couch, where she collapsed to sob. "I’ll enjoy hearing your screams again between the beautiful thumps of dirt hitting your casket."

I felt a chill, imagining it. Pierce’s hand on mine went damp with sweat. Mine probably.

"You foul bastard," Pierce said, his voice shaking. "I will not leave without the girl."

Intuition and the shifting of light pulled my attention to the hole in the ceiling. "Look out!" I cried, pulling Pierce and myself back when the two vampires from the front door dropped down. Pierce’s free hand started making gestures behind his back, and my pulse raced to make me lightheaded. Smiling like death, they started to advance.

"No!" their master shouted, and they hesitated. "Let them stand." He flicked his eyes to the one who had carried Sarah down here earlier. "You, man the outside grounds," he said, then turned a disparaging look at the other. "You mind the stairs. From outside. I don’t want to be disturbed."

He turned to Pierce and me, and I thought I heard the small man beside me mutter a curse. "I enjoy trespassers," the vampire said. "The law is going to see you dead again, Pierce. All you have brought to me is more terror to lap up. What a timely gift. Thank you."

He nodded curtly at the two vampires, and they slipped away, one through the door and stair behind us, the other jumping straight up through the hole in the floor. Sarah was still crying, and the twin clicks of two doors shutting were ominous. Great. I think it was about to get ugly.

"Believe me," Pierce whispered, his hand giving mine a quick squeeze.

I flicked a look at him, then back to the vampire. "What?"

Pierce angled to get in front of me. "He’s going to kill me, but I’m already dead. Trust me. As soon as he thinks I’m dead, I’ll move against him. Get the girl out. Please."

I didn’t want to leave him here. I wouldn’t! "Pierce . . ."

But his fingers slipped from mine.

A jolt of line energy burst in me as I took the entire line myself. Pierce had been siphoning off of me, and I hadn’t even known it. Stumbling back, I barely saw Pierce jump away from me, shouting curses at the vampire.

Lips curled to show his teeth, Christopher went to meet him.

"Pierce, no!" I shouted from where I had fallen to one knee, transfixed when they met. The man didn’t have a chance. My heart pounded in fear as they grappled, the vampire finding his neck and sinking his teeth.

Pierce’s groan struck through me, and I almost panicked. "This can’t be happening," I whispered. "This can’t be happening!"

I jumped when the girl darted across the room, a white shadow fleeing. She clutched at me, her tear-streaked face pleading up at me. "Get me out," she whispered, as if afraid he would hear. "Please, get me out!"

I looked at Pierce, slack in the vampire’s grip. The animal hung over him, sickening me.

"Help me!" she sobbed, trying to drag me to the door, but I knew what was behind it.

Jaw clenched, I pried her grip off my arm and shoved her behind me. "Give me a minute," I muttered. My heart was pounding too fast, and my knees were going weak. Striding to the nearest wall, I lugged a picture from it, staggering at its unexpected weight.

"Get off him!" I shouted, dropping it on the vampire.

Glass cracked and it slid off his back. Snarling, the vampire let Pierce fall, turning with a look on his face to send a ribbon of fear-laced adrenaline through me. Slowly I backed up. Maybe I should’ve taken my chances with the vampire behind door number one.

His mouth red with Pierce’s blood, the vampire started for me, hunched and looking as if he was in pain. "Stupid, foolish witch," he said, wiping his mouth and then licking the blood from his hand. "Your species will thank me for taking you out before you can breed. The too smart and the too stupid are all culled first. I don’t know which one you are."

"Stay back," I said, hand raised as I almost tripped on the rug.

From behind me the girl gasped. My gaze darted to Pierce as he moved. Hope surged, and sensing it, the vampire turned around.