Page 91 of Starved Until Sunset

“You left me no choice,” Xavier said, then he bit into Aldrik’s neck and tore his head from his shoulders.

Zenona and Tracey were screaming, and Cody shouted in shock and disgust as well. Aldrik’s body appeared to pull in on itself, shrinking around Xavier’s arm and dissolving into a foul-smelling black fluid that spread across the floor. Cody, Zenona, and Tracey all lifted their feet to try and avoid the stuff that flowed around them. Lucia was still unconscious after Aldrik’s bite, and the blood spread around her feet.

Aldrik’s body spilled away, and Xavier stood very still, looking at his extended arm coated in the gunk that had once been his son. Eventually, he lowered his arm and stood with his head down. There was no deep breath, no cry of grief. Just a long silence. After a time, the other vampires began to fidget, and the sounds of their shuffling feet and quiet murmurs seemed to bring Xavier back to himself. He looked toward the group lingering in the shadows, their faces indistinct from where Cody was positioned.

“Some of you had been turned by Aldrik, and I know his…” Xavier paused to glance at the mess on the floor. “Demise may be shocking. You would naturally feel his death quite powerfully, as if you yourselves had been struck or impaled. But allow me to assure you, you are all still physically intact. There has been no damage to your corporeal selves. You may be feeling lost, floundering, directionless. That is to be expected, as the bond between a maker and those he sires is immensely intimate and strong. But fear not, for now your allegiance shall pass to me. I shall act as guardian and guide for you.”

“Like you did for your son?”

Cody was surprised to hear Lucia’s voice. Her mouth was a tight line of anger, and her eyes were like chips of hard blue ice, the skin beneath bruised, almost black against her extremely pale face. Aldrik’s bite had taken a heavy toll. But goddamn, if Lucia’s fire just refused to go out. He couldn’t help but be impressed by her. And emboldened.

“Yeah, that was a pretty fucking brutal father and son chat,” Cody said.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Tracey put in. Her voice shook slightly, but she stuck out her chin and stared at Xavier. “At the library, we do worse for late book returns.”

“I have to say, out of your two sons, he really was the worst,” Zenona added.

Xavier stood in front of her. “Do not mention my other son here. He is dead to me.”

“So, would that be living?” Cody asked. “Since he’s technically undead now, if he were to be dead to you, would that make him alive again?”

The vampires in the shadows, who Cody had come to think of as a gruesome Greek chorus, whispered quietly. He heard them shifting positions, clothes rustling, shoes scraping against the concrete.

Xavier slowly turned his head to look at him. He smiled, the movement making his already frightening features even more terrifying.

“Would you like to find out?”

The deadbolt at the top of the stairs opened with a click that echoed across the space. The hard, sudden sound made Cody jump, and everyone looked up to the door swinging open. A rush of hope filled Cody’s chest that Demmy would be peering down the stairs. This was followed quickly by the fear that Demmy would be overrun by vampires.

But it wasn’t Demmy or anyone else come to save them. It was John the Bastard, lumbering down the metal steps, his boots clanging against the risers.

“Ah, Mr. Burnwell,” Xavier said. “Timely, as usual.”

“You fucking traitor,” Cody shouted. “Let us out of here!”

John stopped at the bottom of the steps. He avoided looking at any of the captives, instead fixing his gaze on Xavier. “Sun’s down.”

“Yes, we felt that,” Xavier said. “How fares your wife?”

That got John to glance quickly at Cody before looking back at Xavier. “She’s about the same.”

“Oh, dear, I’m so sorry. I thought for sure that specialist you brought in would have been able to help.” Xavier took a step closer and lowered his voice. “Would you like me to pay the specialist a visit tonight?”

John’s face paled. “No!” It was practically a shout, and he caught himself and cleared his throat, saying more quietly, “No, that’s not necessary.”

“You’ve done so much for us all these months,” Xavier said. “Ever since our initial introduction. Surely there’s something more I can do to repay your kindness? I shall pay for another specialist to be brought in. The cost is of no concern.”

“You fucking bastard!” Tracey shouted. “Do you know what this monster has done to the people of your town?”

John flinched and dropped his gaze. He responded to Xavier as if Tracey had never spoken. “More money would help. Her care is expensive.”

“Of course, of course,” Xavier said. “Whatever you need, just tell me. I will, of course, need some help with these four later tonight. Do you know a good place we can bury their bodies so they’ll never be found?”

“The pit.” John’s voice was soft, but Cody heard him clearly enough for his stomach to knot and a greasy sheen to break out over his body. “We can bury them out there.”

He shuddered at the thought of it. John was suggesting Xavier dump their bodies in among the roadkill in the pit on the edge of town. Then John the Bastard would use the backhoe to push dirt over them and there they’d stay forever, rotting away with the roadkill and undiscovered.

“You fucking bastard,” Cody said. “This is murder. You’re murdering people all over town! Does your wife know how you’re funding her care?”