Frowning, Amy twisted her head in the vampires’ direction. Turning back to Mateo, she said, “I don’t trust them as far as I can throw them. The earliest Bloodmaidens, the ones I know the best, fought the Elder and it was near thing. It might be easier right now because the sun’s dawning, but not much. The Elder mated with humans. They were both undead and alive at once and they knew how to use magic.”
Amy laughed, “Of all the books to be based on reality…”
Vincent muttered, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
One of the sparkling vampires stepped out in front of the group. He had short, black hair, a pale face, and wore black armor with silver rivets. The shape of the armor either emphasized or created the illusion of a lean, muscular physique.
Of course, frying bacon smelled good. While I couldn’t smell through the suit, I did notice that Amy’s lips curling in what I assumed to be disgust. So maybe it didn’t smell like bacon frying unless it was the smell of rotting bacon.
I’d ask Amy later, or maybe never.
Either way, I didn’t feel much of an urge to open my facemask and find out for sure. Plus, I had another responsibility—making sure there was nowhere for the vamps to hide. Continue reading Motor City Intern: Part 54→
Strictly speaking, all the vampires I’d seen when I’d decided to face the xosk weren’t coming. The implant volunteered that bit of information. It had counted them earlier and counted them again once I turned away from the xosk’s hopefully dead body.
Mateo and Vincent had taken the number of them down from 41 to 23—which was pretty impressive. How they’d done it became obvious as I looked the scene over. Ball bearings were scattered across the floor and as vampires came across them they stopped to count. Continue reading Motor City Intern: Part 53→
Then I felt pinpricks of pain as needles pierced my skin. I had a sudden vision of mini-tentacles with bone tips and suspected that I’d made a good guess.
But could they control me through my feet? It didn’t seem likely, but bearing in mind that I was an engineer, not a xenobiologist, I had no idea.
Of course, the xosk wasn’t under any obligation to let me punch a hole in its body, and however much the tentacles had a mind of their own, they might have had an inkling that if the body lost everyone lost.
That’s my best theory why, after shrinking away from me as I charged the xosk, they got it into their minds to surround me and try to grapple me as I reached the body. It was at the same time not too bad and terrifying. The tentacles were everywhere around me and pulling me in toward the mouths. Continue reading Motor City Intern: Part 51→
I didn’t want to hurt Mateo, but I also didn’t want to discover that he’d figured out Amy’s trick for ignoring armor. The question then became how to stop him. Lashing out with the full strength of my armor might kill him, but yanking the tentacle out might scramble his brains.
Deciding to go with what I was already trying anyway, I directed my mental energies toward the tentacles. Knowing that for Lee, they weren’t directed anywhere so much as everywhere around him. Of course, it could be that he didn’t try to direct them. Continue reading Motor City Intern: Part 50→
Sarcasm aside, the one good thing about being completely surrounded by your enemies is that your enemies are easy to find. At the same time, if you want to survive, it’s good to have a strategy that’s better thought out than, “kill everybody.”
Talking over the comm, I said, “Let’s help Blue Mask with the xosk.”
Off to the side and above me, Amy glanced over at the vampires in the middle of the room and then over to where Mateo and Vincent fought off tentacles. “Is that what it’s called? Yes. Let’s free up Blue Mask to fight the normal vampires and maybe open up a window.” Continue reading Motor City Intern: Part 49→
Jumping over the tentacles, Vincent dove into the room, but not before drawing two curved knives which he used to chop at the tentacles that tried to grab him even as he landed.
Knives were his weapon, I remembered. I’d always wondered why, but this didn’t seem the time to ask.
It wasn’t as if he was wrong. The V4 armor wasn’t made with stealth in mind. I felt lucky that Book Tower had high ceilings. Otherwise, I’d be bumping my helmet against the ceiling constantly.
Amy didn’t make any noise that I noticed. Given that it appeared out of nowhere when she transformed, I had no idea what it was made of. Mystery magic stuff was my best guess so far–with the distinct possibility that it was the physical manifestation of the remains of souls that the Bloodmaidens had consumed over the millennia of their service to Amy’s family’s empire.
