Alex Van Helsing Voice of the Undead - By Jason Henderson Page 0,62
her. But she was firmly rooted and it would have to be a perfect shot. “I mean, Claire was just a girl that Icemaker wanted to rule with. She wasn’t that special.”
“Liar!” she screamed.
Alex studied her face, the blue blood within raging underneath the skin at her forehead. “What do you care? You’re a psychopath by nature and she’s not a queen.”
“Where’d you learn that, from a book? What do you know about Claire?”
“I actually get this secondhand, but there’s a guy who knows everything about it all and if you cut me down, I can go get him.”
“No, I’ll just take the blood,” she said. She drew a dagger from her belt.
Alex eyed the blade, long and silver, like the ones she had given to the girls in the woods. She spun it in her fingers and he watched the muscles in her alabaster forearm ripple.
This is bad. Ask the questions.
What’s going on?
I’m tied up. She’s gonna cut me.
What do you have?
I have myself.
He kicked out at her and Elle zipped away, then slashed out, slicing through the cloth of his tuxedo and sending three ridiculously expensive pearl buttons into the deep.
“Hey! Shouldn’t you be out trying to catch Montrose again? I thought you and Ultravox were busy with that.”
“Montrose?” She snorted. “You think we brought in a player like Ultravox over Chatterbox? You morons really are full of yourselves. You can snoop all you want, Alex. You can’t keep up with us. Ultravox has bigger fish to fry.”
“But—” Alex said, realizing he sounded completely taken aback. Get that under control, think, think.
Stickiness as blood began to ooze from the shallow cut. God, that stung. He worked his hands and felt the icy tingle of them going numb. Bigger fish to fry. Because he’s an assassin. He’s still here and he’s got bigger fish, bigger than scientists. Bigger like politicians.
“The ball,” Alex spat, suddenly realizing it. The ball would be full of visiting dignitaries, all on a boat with their teenage children—many of whom had already been programmed to kill. “He’s here to stop the treaty, the information treaty.”
“And you missed it.” Elle clicked her tongue.
“But why do vampires care about an information-sharing treaty?”
“Oh, Al, I swear when people start talking about treaties I want to shave my own head with a cheese grater,” Elle said. “Now where were we?”
Alex tried to stall her. “You gonna spill nine pints all over the dock?”
Her nostrils flared for a moment as she caught the scent of his blood. Her eyes took on a sensuous look and she spun the knife again. “Nope.”
“You can’t waste it.”
“Bring out the bowl,” called Elle.
Down below, the Merrills pulled the blanket off a stand that looked like a generator, but now he saw was a rolling table with an enormous white collecting bowl.
“Ah, another bird feeder.” They rolled the bowl down the dock, a couple of vampiric Vanna Whites, the lovely assistants of Elle the vampire. They brought it to a stop below him and worked together to line it up. They seemed to take a moment disagreeing over where it would be perfectly plumb.
Not good. Dammit, what do you have?
“Merrills!”
They looked at him, satisfied with the placement of the bowl. “I think that’s it,” said Bill.
Think. Steven was injured. Nobody came.
“Seriously, you couldn’t get through on the phone? That sucks,” Alex said.
“People are bound to disappoint,” Bill said evenly.
Alex looked at Elle. “You guys sent the withdrawal papers?”
“We take care of our own,” Elle said.
“And so how did you block Bill’s calls?”
Elle blinked. “What?”
“It’s a lie, Bill,” Alex cried. “You listening?”
“Shut up. Come on, boss, let’s drain this guy.”
“Oh my God, you’re such a chump,” Alex said, nearly delirious, as Elle tried to decide whether to cut him open from stem to stern or start with a throat cut. “Bill, get real, your parents didn’t abandon you. She blocked your calls. She wanted a couple of simpleminded Igors she could boss around and you fit the pattern.”
Steven looked up and spoke, finally. “Why would you say that?”
“Because I saw a care package for you from your parents stuffed into the garbage at the hospital,” Alex rasped as Elle brought the knife close.
“That’s it,” Elle said, bringing the dagger back for the swing.
“She made sure you wouldn’t get it so you’d do this,” Alex shouted.
Down came the knife. Alex closed his eyes.
Something heavy landed on the beam. It was Bill, pushing Alex to the side. Alex swung wild into the air on the boom, spinning.