Chronicles Of A Fallen Angel-Chapter 34: Almost Complete

I fired three shots in rapid succession. Two hit center mass, the wooden bullets doing their job. The vampires screamed and went down, clawing at the stakes in their chests.

The third one dodged and rushed me.

I met him with the silver blade, cutting across his chest. He hissed and recoiled, and I pressed the advantage, driving him back with quick strikes.

Jade appeared behind him, her hands glowing with magical energy. She blasted him with force that sent him flying into the wall, and I finished him with a bullet to the heart.

"Clear," she said, checking the other two. Both were dying, the wooden bullets having pierced their hearts. "Nice shooting."

"Thanks. How are the others?"

"Cleaning up inside. We got most of them, but a few scattered." She pulled out her phone, texting rapidly. "Selene’s sending cleanup crew. We should – "

A crash from above. I looked up to see two more vampires bursting through a second-story window, landing in a crouch.

These ones were older. More controlled. More dangerous.

"Run," one of them said to the other. "Tell Marcus what happened."

The second vampire took off, moving faster than I could track. The first one turned to us, fangs bared.

"You made a mistake coming here," he growled.

"Probably," I admitted. "But I’m here now. Might as well finish it."

He attacked with speed that made the younger vampires look slow. I got my blade up in time to block, and the impact sent me back.

Jade hit him with a binding spell, magical ropes wrapping around his arms, but he tore through them like paper.

"Stronger than expected," she muttered, preparing another spell.

The vampire grabbed me by the throat, lifting me off the ground. "You’re not vampire. Not human. What are you?"

I let a fraction of my divine energy flare – just enough to burn his hand. He dropped me with a hiss, staring at his smoking palm.

"What the fuck – "

I shot him. Center mass, wooden bullet.

He looked down at the stake protruding from his chest, then at me. "You’re... divi..."

Then he crumbled to ash.

Jade stared at the pile of remains, then at me. "What did he say?"

"Nothing important." I checked the gun’s remaining ammunition. "Where did the other one go?"

"Probably to warn whoever Marcus is." She pulled out her phone. "I’m calling Selene. This just got complicated."

Victor and Natasha emerged from the warehouse, both bloodied but alive.

"We got seven," Victor reported. "Two escaped. One went that way – " he pointed in the direction the vampire had fled " – the other we lost in the building’s sub-levels."

"Selene’s not going to be happy about escapees," Natasha said.

"Selene’s definitely not happy about escapees," a new voice said.

We all turned to find Selene herself standing at the alley’s entrance, her white dress somehow still immaculate despite the surroundings.

"Two got away," she said, her voice dangerously calm. "That’s two too many."

"We’ll track them down," Victor said quickly. "Give us an hour – "

"You’ve had your chance." She moved past us, examining the ash pile. "This one died afraid. What did it see before it died, Alexander?"

Everyone looked at me.

"It asked what I was," I said carefully. "Then it died."

"And what are you?"

The question hung in the air like a blade.

"Someone who gets the job done," I said. "Even if it’s not perfect."

She studied me for a long moment, and I couldn’t read her expression.

"Two escaped," she repeated. "But seven are dead, and you all worked together reasonably well. I suppose that counts for something." She turned to leave. "Track down the remaining two by tomorrow night, and we’ll call this a success. Don’t fail."

She left, and the four of us stood in tense silence.

"Well," Jade said finally. "That went great."

"We need to find those two vampires," Natasha said. "Now. Before they disappear or warn whoever’s protecting them."

"Split up," Victor suggested. "Cover more ground."

"Bad idea," I countered. "We split up, we’re vulnerable. We move together, track them methodically."

"You don’t give orders here," Victor snapped.

"I’m not giving orders. I’m making a suggestion based on not dying." I met his glare. "But if you want to go off alone and get ambushed, be my guest."

Jade stepped between us. "Both of you shut up. We’re wasting time arguing." She pulled up a map on her phone. "The one I saw run went east. Probably heading for the industrial sector – lots of places to hide there. We search systematically, use Natasha’s tracking abilities, and we find them before dawn."

It took three hours of searching through abandoned buildings and sewers before we finally cornered the first escapee. Natasha’s enhanced vampire senses tracked him to a warehouse near the docks.

We breached together this time, and the fight was brief but brutal. The rogue put up a decent resistance, but four on one wasn’t a fair fight.

"Where’s the other one?" Jade demanded, her hand glowing with magic ready to burn him if he didn’t answer.

"Fuck you," he spat.

Natasha grabbed his arm and twisted until bone cracked. "Answer the question."

"Marcus... he’s with Marcus... North District..."

"Who’s Marcus?" I asked.

"Master... our sire..."

"And where is he?" Natasha twisted harder.

"I don’t know! He moves around, we only see him when he calls us – "

Victor had apparently heard enough. He staked the vampire before anyone could stop him, and we watched him disintegrate.

"He was still talking," I said.

"He told us what we needed to know. Marcus is the sire. We take him out, the problem ends."

"We don’t know where Marcus is," Jade pointed out.

"No, but we know the last rogue will probably try to contact him." Victor pulled out his phone. "I’ll have my people monitor supernatural communications in the North District. We’ll find him."

We split up finally, exhausted and covered in vampire ash. I made my way back to the staging point where the team was waiting.

"God," Sarah said when she saw me. "You look like hell."

"Feel worse." I collapsed into the van. "Get me out of here."

Back at the safehouse, I showered off the blood and grime, then filled Marco in on everything.

"So you impressed them enough to survive, but not enough to avoid a follow-up hunt," he summarized.

"Essentially."

He sighed. "This is getting complicated, Cain. The longer you’re in that world, the more chances of being far too deep in."

"I know. But we’re close. VIP access is almost guaranteed if we finish this job."

"It’ll be fine" I assured.

I retreated to my room, exhausted but wired.